1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thermoelectric generation apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
A known example of conventional thermoelectric generation apparatuses is disclosed as a steam generation apparatus in WO 2011/121852A. The steam generation apparatus is provided, inside its housing, with pipe members through which a high-temperature heating medium passes, and a thermoelectric element module is attached on the surface of the pipe member. The thermoelectric element module is covered with a heat transfer plate, and water is ejected onto the surface of the heat transfer plate from a spray nozzle.
With the steam generation apparatus including the above-described configuration, water supplied to the heat transfer plate is heated by the high-temperature heating medium to produce water vapor, and at the same time, electric power can be generated using the temperature difference occurring in the thermoelectric element.
When the supply of the heating medium to the pipe member and the ejection of water onto the heat transfer plate both stop due to a power failure or the like in the above-described conventional steam generation apparatus, the heating of the pipe member is maintained by the high-temperature heating medium remaining inside the pipe member, whereas the cooling of the heat transfer plate is stopped after the ejected water has evaporated. Therefore, especially the heat transfer plate side tends to be heated to a higher temperature than usual, which may result in degradation of the electric wiring of the thermoelectric element module, the insulating structure, and so forth.
For the above-described conventional steam generation apparatus, it has been also proposed to cascade thermoelectric, element modules for high temperature, and thermoelectric element modules for low temperature by stacking these thermoelectric element modules in order to increase the power generation efficiency.
However, there is the possibility that, when the thermoelectric element modules for low temperature are heated to a high temperature as a result of a power failure or the like as described above, the thermoelectric elements made of a material for low temperature (for example, Bi-Te) themselves or joint portions made of solder or the like may undergo degradation and damage due to oxidation or the like.